Cyclists banned from scenic road

LA JOLLA  Safety concerns have prompted state parks officials to ban bicyclists from riding down the popular entrance road to Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Signs announcing the ban were installed Tuesday on the winding road, a historic stretch of the original Highway 101 that overlooks the Pacific. Cyclists are still allowed to ride south, up to the park’s visitor center, but can’t return down the same route.

Many cyclists bemoaned the ban, saying it eliminates access to one of the county’s most picturesque and popular cycling routes.

“This is a sudden change to something that’s been in place for years,” said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. “This is a beautiful area and we’d like to maintain bicycle access through there as much as possible.”

But Clay Phillips, superintendent of the reserve, said Wednesday that the steep, half-mile entrance road had become a chaotic mix of vehicles, cyclists, hikers and parents with baby strollers, creating a dangerous situation for everyone at the reserve, which is just south of Del Mar.

He said the most efficient solution was to prohibit cyclists from riding down the road, where they often reach very high speeds on the steep grade. The ban doesn’t prevent cyclists from riding uphill on the road from near the beach, he said.

“We didn’t want to wait for a major injury to occur,” Phillips said, noting there have been several minor injuries in recent years. “It was clear we were going to have a fatality.”

Local cyclists understand the safety concerns but would prefer state officials search for alternate long-term solutions to the problem,

The change forces cyclists to use nearby Torrey Pines Road, which is less scenic and more congested than the park’s entrance road, he said.

Phillips said he’s received some complaints from cyclists who love the thrill of riding down the hill, but that he’s also gotten lots of positive feedback from both pedestrians and cyclists.

“We’d been getting complaints from everybody before because we had so many close calls and dangerous situations,” he said.

La Jolla resident Ken King, a longtime cyclist and a docent at the reserve, said he supports the ban.

“It’s too dangerous for cyclists to go down that hill with all the pedestrians and motorists,” he said.

King said it’s much safer to take Torrey Pines Road, noting that street has relatively wide shoulders.

Phillips said parks officials plan to spend the next six to eight months studying the problem and exploring potential solutions.

He said a shuttle could reduce the number of vehicle trips on the hill. But he said a proposal from cyclists to ban vehicles from the entrance road wouldn’t work because it would eliminate access to the reserve for senior citizens, disabled people and small children.

Hanshaw predicted the area would remain a popular cycling route either way, but said he hoped cyclists would again be allowed to ride downhill on the entrance road after the study.

Phillips said parks officials have made other recent changes to increase safety. They include better signage, new fencing and improvements to the hiking trail next to the entrance road.

Cyclists violating the ban could receive misdemeanor citations.

Comments about the ban and other policies at the reserve should be sent to clay.phillips@parks.ca.gov.

More than 2.5 million people visit the 2,000-acre reserve and Torrey Pines State Beach each year.